An unknown number of people have been killed in an attack by gunmen on displaced people in Panyikang County of Upper Nile State on Wednesday.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Thursday, Panyikang County Commissioner Mustafa Gai said the attack targeted internally displaced people in Adidyang village, about 25 km from Malakal town.

The local official said they only received a preliminary report on what happened in the Adidyang area, pointing out that details of the incident are still scanty.

"The attack on the internally displaced people in Adidyang occurred on Wednesday at around 3 pm. After the attack, the displaced people who originally come from Tonga ran towards the river," Mr Mustafa said.

"Some of the displaced arrived in Malakal yesterday and today morning. Two wounded people, a man and a girl, who arrived in Malakal yesterday, died. Two injured people are currently receiving treatment in Malakal. So this is the preliminary report I received," Mustafa added.

 The death toll could still rise further, according to the local official. "As a government, we will give the full report after confirmation, there are people who are missing, and some children have been separated from their parents. The Adidiang area is now deserted. The number of the displaced people there was around 8, 000," he said.

He claimed that the attack was carried out by forces who had come from the Diel area, which he said is controlled by SPLM/A-IO forces loyal to First Vice President Riek Machar.

"The government is engaging the humanitarian organizations to support the conflict-displaced families. The area of Adidyang is currently empty, but we have sent a team to assess the casualties," Mr Mustafa said.

"What is happening is related to the fighting between the two factions of the SPLM/A-IO Kit-Gwang, and it has nothing to do with the Nuer and Shilluk communities. But the White Army group joined in the fight," he added.

Meanwhile, the State Minister of Information, Luk Sadallah Deng, said: "As a government, we met and discussed how to respond to the incident in Adidyang. We have agreed to transport the affected people to Malakal."

He pointed out that the state government has not yet received a detailed report on the casualties of the Adidyang attack.